A year or so ago another company that I am associated with, Performance Genetics, did a private study on mitochondrial DNA, the strand of DNA that is maternally inherited in all species and can be used to classify female lineages. We were specifically looking into the #1 family of Tregonwell's Natural Barb which is now that of the likes of Black Caviar, Super...
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As we get ready for the start of the Northern Hemisphere yearling sales series, one of the more pertinent questions that we are often asked at TrueNicks is how important is the racing class of the pedigree at hand in determining the success of a mating. While the TrueNicks rating of a yearling can be the same, the chances of a stakes winner occurring from one...
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Last week saw the running of the Epsom Oaks (Eng-I) and Derby (Eng-I), two of the longest existing classic races in the world and for many the barometer of the Thoroughbred breed. The Derby was won in devastating fashion by the royally bred Australia. A son of the good racehorse and now leading sire Galileo ( TrueNicks ), Australia is out of Ouija Board, one...
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The breeding maxim " Return to the sire the best blood of his dam " has been attributed to longtime Darby Dan Farm manager Olin Gentry. Gentry wasn't the first to suggest this breeding theory, indeed there is evidence to suggest that it first came into livestock management via the Bedouins in upgrading Arabian stock centuries ago. The theory is that when mating...
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We've reached back into the time vault and unearthed a TrueNicks webinar that we filmed back in 2009. While it is over three years old, much of what we talked about back then is still relevant today. Enjoy! Click here to download the "Top 10 Myths About Nicks in Thoroughbred Breeding" whitepaper .
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It goes without saying that it takes an exceptional individual to win Eclipse Awards in three successive years. Among fillies and mares, the feat has only been achieved twice, by Zenyatta (2008-10) and Azeri (2002-04), although Susan's Girl was champion 3-year-old filly of 1972 and then champion older mare in 1973 and 1975. Looking back to the pre-Eclipse Award...
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Classic trials apart, in the U.S. the championship-defining contests for straight 3-year-olds are usually the three Triple Crown events plus the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) and the Travers Stakes (gr. I). Prior to the weekend, the first four events had taken place and had been won by four different horses: Orb (Kentucky Derby, gr. I), Oxbow (Preakness Stakes...
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While there is no doubt that nicks tend to run in sire lines, we've also often found it profitable to consider the dam of a stallion when attempting to predict potential crosses. For example, when Smart Strike ( TrueNicks ) retired to stud, we noted that he was a half brother to champion Dance Smartly, a daughter of Danzig. Since Smart Strike was a Mr. Prospector...
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A little over two years ago, we looked at the cross of Galileo with mares by Danehill . This was fast becoming a European mega nick, having—in the space of three weeks—been represented by Frankel, who had just taken the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) in breathtaking style; Golden Lilac, successful in the French One Thousand Guineas (Fr-I); and Roderic O'Connor...
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While he is now considered an "elder statesman" of the Coolmore Australia stallion roster, there can be no doubt that Encosta de Lago (AUS) ( TrueNicks , SRO ) is one of the premier stallions standing in Australia this year. The son of Fairy King has amassed a sensational record at stud with 6.3% stakes winners to foals and 7.6% stakes winners to runners (up...
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The interpretation of Thoroughbred pedigrees is no simple matter. The multi-factorial elements that might be considered include nicks, inbreeding, linebreeding, the positions of ancestors relative to one another, the relationship of the pedigree to the female line, and the class of the individuals involved. Given the volume of the data, and the difficulty of...
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Yesterday Coolmore purchased multiple group I-winning filly Sea Siren , a daughter of Coolmore's champion sire Fastnet Rock (AUS) ( TrueNicks , SRO ). Below is a conformation video of the 4-year-old. Sea Siren will make her final start for her previous connections May 11 in the BTC Cup (Aus-I) at Doomben, a six-furlong race that she won last year. If she runs...
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The wins of Orb in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Princess of Sylmar in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) further solidified the pensioned Lane's End stallion A.P. Indy as the premier sire line source of classic speed in the North American Thoroughbred. Indeed, with Normandy Invasion (by Tapit ( TrueNicks , SRO )), Dreaming of Julia, and Revolutionary (out of an A.P...
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Now that post positions are set, what are your opinions on the Kentucky Derby this year? Below are some of my thoughts along with links to video of recent workouts and complimentary TrueNicks Enhanced Reports for each entrant in post position order. 1. Black Onyx (50-1) Black Onyx follows a similar form line to Animal Kingdom, who also prepped in a Gulfstream...
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Today brought the news of Black Caviar's retirement from racing. The big question now is which stallion will have the privilege of serving the great mare in her first season at stud? But first, to reflect on Black Caviar's remarkable record, her unbeaten 25-race career included 15 group I victories and spanned six consecutive calendar years. She was the world...
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15.33%. That's the coefficient of relatedness between Frankel and Chrysanthemum, the first mare scanned in foal to the champion racehorse during his first season at stud. As a point of comparison, first cousins are 12.5% related and half siblings are 25% related. Chrysanthemum, owned by the Coolmore team of Tabor, Magnier, and Smith, won a pair of group III races...
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Today TrueNicks is pleased to announce the new Key Ancestors Report, a breakthrough report that considers your mare's entire pedigree—all male and female ancestors—and identifies the key ancestors to seek out or avoid in the pedigrees of stallions in prospective matings. TrueNicks' Byron Rogers and Ian Tapp discuss the new report in the video below. brightcove...
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On a week when much will be written about the great Frankel (Galileo– Kind , by Danehill) as he retires to Juddmonte Farms to serve his first season at stud in 2013, this writer had pause to reflect on the outstanding performance of his broodmare sire, Danehill, who has thus far proved himself a phenomenon as a sire and broodmare sire in two hemispheres—a true...
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With Danedream flashing her credentials for a shot at back-to-back victories in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) with a score in the Grosser Preis von Baden (Ger-I) at the weekend, we thought it was worth a look back at her pedigree from this article we wrote for the International Thoroughbred after her win in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in...
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Last weekend was an exciting one for bloodstock consultant Gary Hadden ( haddenbloodstock.com ). Gary recommended the mating that produced Reckless Abandon, a son of Exchange Rate ( TrueNicks , SRO ) who won Sunday's Darley Prix Morny (Fr-I) and solidified himself as the top European 2-year-old. The colt previously took the Norfolk Stakes (Eng-II) at Royal Ascot...
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It's still very early in the season for serious juvenile competition, but there is no doubt that one of the most impressive 2-year-old fillies seen to date is Kauai Katie. Successful by 12 lengths on her debut ( video ), the Stonestreet Stable color-bearer returned to action at Saratoga in the Adirondack Stakes (gr. II), and captured the 6 1/2-furlong event by...
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It would be reasonable to suggest that while time may prove Coolmore stallion Galileo superior to his breed-shaping sire Sadler's Wells, with the exception of siring a group I winner over 4000m (which Sadler's Wells did in the form of the brilliant Yeats), right now Galileo is every bit as good a classic sire as his father. Like many elite stallions, Galileo...
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A few weeks ago, when looking at the emerging French second year sire Turtle Bowl , we noted that he conformed to something of a recent trend in France, the appearance of a number of good sires with relatively unfashionable pedigrees, other examples that come to mind including Linamix (by Mendez), Muhtathir (by Elmaamul), and Chichicastenango (by Smadoun). The...
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